


Once More with Feeling

by Maevi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Horcruxes, Multiple Dimensions, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25427269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maevi/pseuds/Maevi
Summary: Out of all the things to kill her, Aster really didn't expect the same veil that'd claimed her Godfather would claim her. Except, she doesn't die. Unless death is in a past where the Chosen One is a boy, Snape is hot, and Lockhart is a brunet.This could actually be her own personal version of hell, now that she's thinking about it. But she'll be damned if she doesn't make the best of it anyways.Summary may be subject to change.
Relationships: Female Harry Potter/Severus Snape, Harry Potter/Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63





	1. Future is Prologue

Aster Potter of number 12 Grimmauld Place was proud to say that she lived a perfectly normal life, thank you very much. At least, that’s what she’d say to any reporters asking. It was complete and utter rubbish of course. The Girl-Who-Lived turned Chosen One turned Auror turned Unspeakable was about as far from normal as possible. However just like her aunt in a way, the attempt to seem normal was made. The thought stung a smidge at the realisation of having anything in common with her aunt, but she’d gone through enough therapy to not run screaming from the idea, nor do something completely spontaneous and probably disastrous for her reputation to negate the statement. She’d come a long way from infiltrating Ministries on a whim thank Merlin. Her rash decision days were over. For the most part.

That margin of error is how she ended up in her current situation, somehow slowly getting sucked into the very same veil that Sirius had fallen through, and not being able to do anything about it. It’s rather fascinating in a way, some remote part of her brain mused, how quickly her thoughts were running, how calm she felt regarding her impending doom. Hanging on to the edge of the stone dais that bore the veil should not be a calm matter, yet she felt no fear despite the suction being enough to lift her feet off the ground. She would have cast a wand-less sticking charm on her hands to Spider-Man crawl her way out, however Magic-Dampening wards had been erected soon after her Godfathers passing a decade ago, so that was a no go.

She was going to die within the next few minutes, and she was strangely okay with that. Having already died before probably helped with that. But still, her damned ‘Hero-complex’ and pathological need to be of help had finally done her in. She wasn’t even supposed to have been at work today. Yet here she was, clinging on for dear life, kind of wondering why she hadn’t just let go yet as her grip was slowly slipping.

It started like this.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Aster was rather rudely awoken by an insistent meerkat patronus yelling about a work emergency in the voice of her manager. Not being a morning person, Aster raised her hand in the vague direction from where the offending noise was coming from, and slashed down sharply, dissipating the spell. Unfortunately she couldn’t just go back to sleep, despite still being on what was technically vacation (she’d gone nowhere during the three weeks she’d had off so far, but that was beside the point). As an Unspeakable she had a duty to report in whenever necessary. So, grumbling quite a few colourful words about meerkats and the people they belong to, she dragged her body out of bed and into the loo, green eyes bleary but no longer needing glasses, thanks to a nifty potion invented three years ago, she splashed water onto her face to help the puffiness around said eyes go down.  
  
Coming back out slightly less groggy than before, Aster threw on some comfortable clothes with her Unspeakable robes on top. Brushing through her auburn locks, she quickly grabbed her emergency work bag that Hermione, also an Unspeakable, had put together for her back when she’d first started. She put her hair up, then headed downstairs towards the kitchen. Kreacher, bless the grumpy bastard, already had coffee ready in her travel mug for departure. Muttering a quiet goodbye, Aster went into the hallway and apparated directly to the Unspeakable's apparition point in the Department of Mysteries. That was one of the few perks of the job, getting to avoid the hassle of the floo on the main level. Usually she was also very appreciative of it too, the room being rather beautiful and decked out in dark paneling with gold rococo details some old Pureblood must have insisted upon. Today however she had only eyes for her manager that was standing by the doors practically shaking with nerves.

Raising an inquiring brow at the man she started walking towards him. “Good morning, Sir. Your Patronus sounded rather urgent.” Teranus Wide was admittedly normally of the skittish variety, but today he seemed even more so, piquing Asters interest. He merely nodded at her greeting before turning around as she reached him and hurrying down the corridor. Aster followed behind silently.

He led her to a conference room rarely used, as it was large enough to seat the whole department if needed, all 169 of them. Rarely did that happen, as a majority of the time her coworkers were either off in distant lands or distant times, making it rather useless to try and gather everyone in one point of time. Department wide paper cranes were therefore the norm, as they only needed to be made once and could be duplicated and sent to every unspeakable’s office to be read when possible. So not only was this an unusual occurrence, but apparently very serious.  
  
  
Not even dear old Tom’s resurrection had been cause for full assembly. Worry was starting to inch its way in now.  
  
  
Spotting Hermione’s riotous curls close to the back, Aster excused her way through the crowd and plopped down into the seat next to her, taking a long sip from her coffee.  
  
  
Leaning over, Aster asked, “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”  
  
  
Shaking her head but keeping her eyes focused forward, Hermione replied, “None whatsoever. An alarm went off about two hours ago and lasted about 15 minutes, but I haven’t heard anything since.” Hermione bit her lip. “I didn’t recognise the alarm either.” Now that was worrying, Asters brows starting to furrow as she too now focused ahead, everyone settling down. Hermione hated surprises, especially after the war, and had at some point learned what all the various alarms that could go off in their department meant. Or nearly all apparently.  
  
  
A decidedly ominous feeling was creeping up the base of her spine. It only got worse as their Department Head, a severe looking woman reminiscent of Professor McGonagall, finally turned to adress the room.  
  
  
“Good Morning everyone. At approximately 5:32 this morning an alarm went off throughout the Department, origin unknown. Immediately after its silencing a team was dispatched to investigate where it originated, as all rooms had declared themselves clear. The team cleared all thirteen rooms as well, no anomalies outside of our usual fare detected.”  
  
  
“So why are we all here then?” Aster whispered to Hermione, but only got a shush in return. Disgruntled she leaned back in her seat, wondering if she could still salvage a sleep-in once she got home, or if it’d count as simply a nap by then.  
  
  
“However despite the all clear we have declared a mauve alert.” Well nevermind then, there went any chances at sleeping. “Everyone is return to their offices until further notice, and report on their areas once every hour. We thank you for your patience, and all should be back to normal by tomorrow. Dismissed.” Shuffling and voices immediately filled the room as everyone started discussing what had just happened.  
  
  
“Well that was bloody useless.” Aster sighed aggravated. Hermione rolled her eyes at her choice of words. Waiting until most of the room had cleared out, so they could also hear eachother better, they slowly made their way towards the general vicinity of their rooms. Hermione’s was by the Time Room, the room having been restored rather easily after its destruction. Being able to revert things to a previous state in time was something they’d mastered decades ago after the fifth time it’d been destroyed. Apparently, it’d been wrecked over thirty times since, but no one bothered to keep track anymore. Except maybe Hermione now that she was in charge of that group.  
  
  
“Clearly there is more going on than they’re telling us. If they’re forcing us to stay despite having cleared everything, then they must be worried that whatever triggered the alarm will happen again. It will happen soon as well, given that they’re only keeping us today.” Aster nodded at Hermione’s words, contemplating.  
  
  
“Hmm true. Well, hopefully nothing will happen. I promised to take Teddy this evening as I was off, but I guess I’ll have to ask if I can leave a bit early instead. Surely, they don’t need all of us watching all the time.” Hermione snorted.  
  
  
“You’re Aster Potter, I highly doubt they’d say no to you.” The auburn-haired witch pretended to be affronted, knocking into her friend as they slowed down by Hermione’s office.  
  
  
“This name has to be good for something you know, Miss Brightest-Witch-of-Our-Age.” Snickering, the duo bid farewell feeling much lighter and more hopeful about the day than when they met.  
  
  
Aster continued on towards her room, which overlooked the Veil. It hadn’t been her first choice to work primarily with the Veil. She’d originally petitioned to be put together with Hermione in the Time Room. However the Powers That Be (Arithmancers of unknown origin) had declared that Aster Potter was to work with the Veil and so that’s what she did. It was actually rather boring to be honest, once she got over the initial hatred and sorrow connected to it (again, therapy). Mostly it did its normal veily thing, fluttering in the nonexistent breeze, and being generally creepy. Sometimes the whispers were particularly loud, usually around Samhain and Aster paid particular attention to staying as far away as possible. Sometimes the curtain would flutter almost violently, as if a storm was occurring on the other side. She made sure to stay away then as well. They’d lost one colleague to the Veil during her employment so far. A sweet old lady who’d recently lost her husband. Aster didn’t have to think too hard on why the accident happened. She’d increased her vigilance though, and always made sure to check in with her teammates during increased Veil activity. The tragedy was also the catalyst to her finally seeking therapy she needed. The residual anger and bitterness that had been festering in her subconscious had been rather terrifying. She kind of understood how Professor Snape ended up the way he did.  
  
  
Moving on from her melancholy thoughts she focused on the papers in front of her, signing forms and updating data files on recent activity. For a mysterious department there was a lot more paperwork than what Aster originally anticipated. On the bright side it was still a lot less than what she had to do as an Auror. Now that had been hell.  
  
  
Throwing an eye towards the Veil, she saw it was behaving normally and so continued catching up on her workload while she could. It’d be nice not to have to worry about it as much once she was actually back from vacation.  
  
  
Mulling over dinner options that Teddy would like, her options were limited as he was in a very picky stage at the moment, and mostly just wanted muggle fast-food whenever possible. She’d made the mistake of introducing him to McDonalds on one of their outings and Andromeda had been incredibly cross with her since. She seemed to be exacting her revenge in the form as forcing Aster to tell him exactly why McDonalds wasn’t good for you to eat everyday, despite it tasting good. It was truly a stroke of Slytherin brilliance as nothing was worse than Teddy’s disappointed face. Maybe she’d pick some up on the way home before picking him up. She felt like she could use the greasy goodness right about now too.  
  
  
Over the subsequent hours Aster sent many cranes off to various colleagues, mostly Hermione simply because she was bored, but also to keep herself updated on everyones status. So far nothing unusual had happened, which was almost an anomaly in and of itself given where they work, but she’d take the calm over the unknown at the moment. People seemed to be a lot more free with gossip right now too, as she found out about many more affairs and arguments than she usually did during a month. People seemed to be as bored as she was, and she hoped no one ended up doing anything stupid just to make time go fast. She contemplated asking Hermione if they could fast-forward he day, but then thought better of it. She didn’t feel like hearing another one of her rants on the proper rules and respect that Time is due. If she were less disciplined she would’ve given in to her urge to take a nap just to get time to go faster too. Unfortunately Aster had become rather too good at discipline over the years, so continued working and throwing occasional glances at the Veil.  
  
  
Lunch had been a nice break, Aster and Hermione having started a game of tag with their patroni before resuming work. It was around dinner time, Aster about to send off a Crane to her manager requesting to leave early, when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the ragged curtain covering the Veil was fluttering a lot more than usual. Frowning in consternation, and cursing her luck she instead sent several patroni to her fellow team members, receiving the confirmation that the Veil was indeed increasing its activity. Cursing again, Aster grabbed her bag and headed down to the actual observation room, which was situated right outside the chamber, double doors connecting them.  
  
  
Despite her team having thirteen members, same as everyone else, only two others were in the room with her. Leela and Magnus were both veteran Aurors, same as Aster, but had been in the DoM for longer than she’d been an adult. Incredibly competent people, the three of them constituted the first response team. If anything overly strange happened they were the ones entrusted to handle nearly any magical aspect possible. Say if something were to pop out, or it needed containing. She had full faith in her fellow colleagues, knew that they could probably handle absolutely anything thrown at them. The increased activity in the room still worried her though. And given the grim expression on her compatriots faces, they shared her concern too.  
  
  
“I really wish it hadn’t decided to act up today of all days.” Aster couldn’t help but comment, eyes fixed at the fluttering material.  
  
  
“Aye, ‘tis a rather auspicious sign today. She seems to be particularly temperamental as well.” Magnus’ deep scottish burr washed over them, voice not quite as soothing as it usually was.  
  
  
They continued to observe the room, taking notes every few minutes of any variations, mostly the continuous increase in activity, when a silver wispy hummingbird came through the wall, nearly causing Aster to jump.  
  
  
“If someone could deploy the Turtle we’d be grateful. We’re reading nearly unprecedented heights of activity in there and need a closer look. Thanks.” The non-nonsense voice belonging to their top researcher echoed around them, the patonus dissipated just as quickly as it’d emerged. The Turtle was an instrument based off of muggle tornado researching equipment, and had come in handy quite a few times. The downside being that they had to place atleast halfway through the room for it to get decent readings, meaning someone would have to go into the seeming storm that was inside the room.  
  
  
The three teammates eyed eachother stoically.  
  
  
“Wand, stone, cloak?” Offered Leela, the other two shrugging in agreement. Many an assignment had been settled that way, so might as well stick with tradition. Leela lost, but the look of utter terror dawning on her face made Aster feel incredibly guilty. Besides Leela had lost a lot of their games recently, and it was only fair someone else do the dirty work. It was just an in and out job. Easy. So, against the niggling thought in her brain that this was a spectacularly bad idea she volunteered in Leela’s place. The relief on the older woman’s face almost made it worth it.  
  
  
The ominous feeling from this morning had returned tenfold. She wasn’t all that fond of entering the Veil room even on a good day, let alone one like this. But, she hadn’t been sorted into Gryffindor for nothing and so with nearly no hesitation grabbed the device and walked over to the double doors separating her from the chaos. Opening them up she took one last chance to enjoy the peace, wards on the room keeping the storm from entering their sanctuary, then nodded to her coworkers and stepped inside.  
  
  
She regretted it almost instantly.  
  
  
Three steps into the room, hurricane like winds ripping through her hair and gripping onto her clothes, an alarm started to blare. As with all safety protocols in the Department, all doors automatically closed to keep whatever hazard was happening contained. In this instance though, it cut off her only escape.  
  
  
Dread really setting in now, and the wind seeming to only be picking up, Aster decided she might as well do the job she came here to do, before hunkering down by the doors to hopefully wait out the storm. If she were lucky maybe Leela and Magnus could do a manual override of the wards, but most likely not. She was on her own here.  
  
  
As she got closer to the Veil, her feet started skidding along the ground, losing traction as the wind started buffering her forward. Alarmed, but not panicking yet, Aster made quick work of setting the Turtle down at the edge of the dais, and pressing the buttons to get it turned on and working. As she was bent over the device however, a particularly strong gust knocked her over, and she barely had time to grab onto the edge of said dais before she felt the wind really start to suck her in. The turtle was somehow still stuck to the ground, seemingly unaffected by the winds now trying to drag Aster into the aether.  
  
  
And that leads us back to where we started, Aster contemplating how she got where she was today, cursing her urge to help and wishing her Slytherin side had taken a more prominent role in her final decision makings. But here she was, dangling by her fingertips and losing strength fast. She hoped Teddy could forgive her someday. Hoped everyone could, for finally giving up. But there was no one to come save her now. No Professor Snape to swoop in, no Dumbledore to twinkle his way through those doors.  
  
  
She’d lived a good life though, and now she was finally going to get to see all those that had gone before. Death was but the next great adventure after all.  
  
And so, with a deep breath, and years of therapy to achieve her accepting state of mind, Aster let go, and knew nothing but darkness.  
  
  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
Slowly coming back to consciousness, Aster bit back a groan. Her body felt like one gigantic bruise, and any hope of this being the after life dwindled to nil. Last time she’d died all her aches and pains had been gone. So clearly, she was alive. Somehow.  
  
  
Carefully opening her eyes, Aster saw that she was still in the Veil room. Eyebrows furrowing, and slowly getting back up on her feet, Aster patted herself down to make sure no actual injuries and been acquired during whatever had happened. Feeling fine, other than the soreness, and checking that everything was still in her emergency bag, she made her way over to the double doors to get out. Something was off though, and she couldn’t figure out what.  
  
  
It wasn’t until she’d crossed the threshold over into the observation room that it hit her. There were no wards surrounding the room. There was no oily feel of magic slipping over her that usually accompanied crossing them, and it put her on high alert. Retrieving her invisibility cloak from her bag, she threw it on and quickly made her way through the Department and into the Ministry proper. Whatever had managed to pull all the wards down meant serious business, and she was not going to rush head first into anything this time around.  
  
  
Not seeing anyone on her journey up to the main floor only made her more suspicious. A cold shiver going down her spine. Tapping her foot impatiently as the elevator made its way up, she couldn’t help but wonder what had happened while she’d been passed out. Had something come through the Veil before she’d passed? Had they been able to get her back, but at a cost?  
  
  
The elevator voice announced their arrival, and Aster braced herself for whatever would be on the other side, which was –  
  
  
\- a completely normal crowd of people going about their business.  
  
  
Even more confused than before, her green eyes darted around, taking everything in. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No one looked hurried. There was no panic, no screaming, as there surely would have been if there’d been a catastrophe in the Department of Mysteries. But no, everyone was behaving as normal. Except…  
  
  
Still the feeling of wrongness pervaded her senses. People would’ve definitely noticed the wards going down, even if they’d been removed without force. The only way no one wouldn’t notice is if they-  
  
  
And that’s when Aster saw it, her thought and her breath cut short. In the middle of the atrium stood the Fountain of Magical Brethren. A fountain, her internal Hermione reminded her, that had been destroyed when the Death Eaters had taken over the Ministry in 1997. A fountain that had never been rebuilt.  
  
  
A strange ringing began in her head, her mind feeling a bit fuzzy as she got closer to the fountain. Seeing a discarded Daily Prophet on one of the benches nearby, Aster sat down and removed her cloak, no one really paying attention to the auburn-haired witch in black Unspeakable robes.  
  
  
Her hands trembling, she picked up the newspaper and immediately located the date. Confirming what she already knew, she dropped the newspaper on the floor, and quickly shoved her head into her knees to try and regulate her breathing. An instinctual notice-me-not charm and she was left in peace to work through her panic attack. It wouldn’t do to lose control of her magic here. Not now.  
  
  
Occlumency barriers firmly in place, breathing regulated, and robes altered to look normal, she wiped the tears from her face, and started making her way towards an apparition point. She didn’t know where she was going to go, but she couldn’t stay here.  
  
Behind her on the ground the Daily Prophet lay, front page side up. The date, that had caused her this tremendous distress, read June 5th 1988.


	2. Past is Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aster comes to terms with her new reality, and finds some interesting information in the process.

Sitting on the outdoor balcony at Florian Fortescue’s, Aster contemplated hew options while eating fairy chocolate swirl ice cream. She was lucky that the flavour had been introduced this year. Having to go without her favourite flavour would’ve just been salt on the wound at this point.

Despite the minor comfort though, she was still struggling with accepting her new reality, the minor tremors in her hands and the gauntness of her face a testament if people bothered to look. It had been a long time since she’d had to think about worst case scenarios, and usually it was her death she considered, not everyone else's.  
  
But that wasn’t necessarily true either. They were still alive, cold comfort that it was. They just thought she was dead, and for all intents and purposes they may as well be dead too. She would never be seeing them again. Atleast not her friends and family. The thought of seeing their young selves only hurt, as she’d just be another stranger now. Sniffling a bit, and taking another huge mouthful of ice cream, she looked down upon the people milling below her.  
  
It was fascinating in a way, seeing what the wizarding world was like before the second war. While it certainly had recovered, it was different to the tableau in front of her. It was more vibrant now, more diversified. The various laws against non-mages hadn’t been put into effect yet, so there was still a healthy respect for most magical creatures. She could spot veela, goblins, fairies, brownies, elves, and even the odd centaur mixed in the group. More would most likely appear as the day waned and nighttime took over. She wondered if it’d be just as vibrant then as now. She was nearly tempted to just sit where she was for the rest of the day to see. It was both heartening and saddening to see how much the world had actually changed.  
  
Sighing as she finished off her ice cream, Aster drew a hand through her hair and shook it out, leaning back in her seat to enjoy the fine summer day. The warmth was a balm on her desolate soul. Atleast she wasn’t a cliché sitting in the rain. And on the bright side, it was nice to be truly anonymous for the first time in her life. No one knew who she was (for better or worse). No double looks, no stuttered stops, no crazed stalkers or fanboys to dog her steps. The amount of times she’d complained about it to all of her friends, and now she’s gotten what she wanted, and she can’t even appreciate it.  
  
Pouting, because she no longer has to worry about public opinion, she puts her head in her hands to try and focus her thoughts. She needed to compartmentalise, do some serious meditation and occluding to make sure she wouldn’t collapse in a fit of hysterics in the near future, and probably find another therapist. The last one would have to wait.  
  
She had funds in her bag, thank merlin she had it on her, but they’d only get her so far. So she probably needed to get a job. That’d be hard as she literally had no documents proclaiming her existence, nor had Hermione thought that O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts were a necessary component in the fancy bag. So she needed to find someone who could forge documents then. Eyeing the entrance to Knockturn Alley in the distance, it being surprisingly populated yet still gloomy, she really didn’t feel like going there. Right, shelving that for another day then.  
  
Round and round her thoughts went, no outward show of her inner turmoil, thinking through the things she needed to do, how to do them, where to go etc. Idly she was wondering if she should just move to a different country altogether. That would be the smarter way, staying out of the way of the coming war. Grimacing at that reminder, Aster wondered is she’d be able to stay out of it like she should, or if she’d end up altering everything into a dystopian alternative that Hermione always threatened would happen if they did anything.  
  
That was when the shrill voice of Molly Weasley broke through her reverie.  
  
“FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANCE.”  
  
Sprinting to the railing Aster looked down on the street, immediately spotting the two rascals, her heart stopping at the sight of their laughing faces. Tears gathered in her eyes as bittersweet happiness filled her as she watched them scampering around, avoiding the irate Molly who was dragging a tiny Ron and an even tinier Ginny with her.  
  
Seeing the twins whole and hale eased something within her chest. An ache that had never really disappeared after the Battle of Hogwarts, no matter the years or the attempts at atoning she’d done over said years. She knew it wasn’t her fault that anyone had died, only the fault of those that had taken those lives. As the prophecy child she always felt guilt over it though, as though she should have done something sooner, something more to hinder it. She had just been a child though. Was a child technically, given the time she was in. The thought that a version of her was currently suffering the presence of the Dursley’s significantly dampened her mood further. Life would not get easier for the poor girl either. For anyone.  
  
Watching as Molly finally caught up with her wayward children, a realisation slowly dawned on Aster’s mind. A determination filled her. The short view of such happiness, of the innocence that would be lost. She couldn’t bear to just sit and do nothing. Not when she knew what was coming. Not when she could save so many people. Her saving-people-thing, as her friends called it was crowing like a veritable Peter Pan at the sheer thought.  
  
A wicked grin grew on her face, green eyes sparkling. She may not be able to go back, but she could bloody well make sure that these people wouldn’t have to suffer as they had before. She could make an actual difference this time around, and technically she wouldn’t even have to meet with anyone!  
  
Melancholy temporarily forgotten (it would return, but having something to do was infinitely better than nothing. She always did better when she had something to occupy her mind.) She grabbed her bag and veritably flew from her table and down the stairs to the main street, robes swishing around her in a fairly Snape-ish fashion.  
  
As she made her way towards Gringotts, she thought about her new plan, its form blooming within her mind.  
  
First, she needed more funds, and subsequently a place to stay. Thus she must first to Gringotts to finally do that inheritance test Andromeda had been badgering her to do. It may be problematic given her Potter status, but that may help with retrieving her younger self from the Dursleys. That was her next goal of course. Ideally, she’d of taken her younger self in instantly. But some caution was still to be exercised. She planned on getting Sirius Black free’d as soon as possible, hopefully with some help from old money, if she was lucky. Either way, as there had never been a trial, an anonymous letter to the Daily Prophet regarding that would probably be enough. Sirius may have been the white sheep of the family, but the fact that one of the Sacred 28 had been treated thusly would be in her favour.  
  
It wasn’t a new plan she’d come up with, really. She’d had plenty of time over the years to think about what she could’ve done differently in regard to Sirius, to keep him alive. As she’d learned how the Purebloods worked by working with them, she’d realized that they were surprisingly easy to manipulate. Their pride was first and foremost, and their traditions practically a religion. She understood how Tom had so easily won them over.  
  
Maybe she could use that in _her_ favour now.  
  
Snorting at the ridiculous thought of herself as following in Tom Riddle's footsteps, Aster finally made her way into Gringotts. Being allowed to enter without having three guards following her everywhere to make sure she didn’t cause anymore trouble was freeing, and very nice. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to break in again to get the cup, but she would if she had to. She’d cross that bridge when she got to it.  
  
Enjoying the architecture openly for the first time in ages, Aster made her way over to an unoccupied teller.  
  
“Good afternoon Master,” Aster snuck a look at the name plaque on the desk, “Harrowfang. I’d like to perform an Inheritance test.” Giving him her best goblin grimace, she waited as he appraised her, eyeing her up and down for an inordinate amount of time. She had patience on her side though, and nothing else in the world to do.  
  
“Very well,” he finally acquiesced, jumping down from his stool, “follow me.”  
  
Quickly catching up, goblins being quick buggers, Aster was led to a ritual room. Stone basin in the middle, long parchment situated within it to capture her blood. Another goblin entered the room as well, carrying what looked like a ritual knife.  
  
Impressed with their swiftness, Aster followed their instructions and slid the knife along her palm and allowed the blood to slide down onto the parchment.  
  
Harrowfang swiftly grabbed the paper as soon as the last drop had fallen. “Hmm, interesting. Follow me.” Amused, Aster followed. She could guess what had been so interesting, as she knew atleast Potter and Black would be on that list. That alone would endear her to the Goblin society as the vaults would finally be put back into play. Nothing made them happier than circulating money, and she had every intention to make them very happy indeed.  
  
Following Harrowfang into what she now saw was Griphook’s office, the Goblin in charge of her family vaults in her own time, a trill of happiness flew through her. Atleast she’d get to keep something familiar.  
  
Seating herself in one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs infront of his desk, Aster waited for him to begin.  
  
He didn’t make her wait long. “You are a most interesting case, Madame.” He eyed her from behind the parchment, and Aster simply smiled serenely, polite pureblood manners at the forefront.  
  
Griphook harrumphed. “By your blood you are the Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House Black and Peverell, the Noble House of Potter, as well as heir apparent to the Ancient House of Slytherin by conquest. Precisely why have you decided now to seek your inheritance Miss..” Griphook raised an eyebrow.  
  
Aster continued smiling. “Peverell. Aster Lily Peverell.” It’d be the perfect name for her stay, she already had all the hallows anyways. She’d think about the ramifications of duplicates later. “I have only recently arrived in England, and I desire to finally settle here. I wished to try my luck as I knew my parents, may they rest in peace, originated from this area.” There, background story planted, parents confirmed dead, Griphook looking suitably unconvinced but not disputing. Aster smelled sweet victory in the air.  
  
“Very well Miss…. Peverell. You have the option of claiming all houses, or none, if you so wish. Be aware that certain, obligations, come with certain names.” Now that was news, unless… “What obligations would those be?”  
  
Griphook sneered. “If you choose to accept the names, you will be informed. Otherwise it would simply be a waste of time.”  
  
Aster’s smile turned a bit strained. “I see…” Oh bloody hell, in for a penny and all that. She could return the headships once she got Sirius out of prison, and make her younger self heir to the Potter fortune without any hassle anyways. “I claim the Peverell, Potter, and Black houses. I want nothing to do with Slytherin at the moment.” While she loved her parseltongue abilities, she had no intention of taking on that particular mantle.  
  
Sneer significantly lessened, Griphook nodded, pleased. This was very good for Gringotts indeed. He nodded to her, then without a word exited the room to retrieve the Headship rings.  
  
Nerves setting in a bit despite knowing almost exactly what she was getting into, Aster felt the thrill of a new adventure take hold. Forcably pushing back the loss that threatened to well up in retaliation, Aster observed as Griphook hobbled back into the room with a large oak box, the outside decorated rather prettily with runes and flowers. Definitely mage made, as goblins weren’t the flowery sort.  
  
Opening the box infront of her, Griphook retook his place as Aster observed the rings inside. The three were very different from eachother in both color and form. The Potter and Black rings were gold and silver respectively, the Potter ring containing a ruby as its center piece, the Black ring a black diamond. The Peverell ring was much more interesting in looks, the metal silver looking as well, yet somehow more fluid than the Black ring. The stone threw her for a moment, and she realized she’d half expected to see the Resurrection stone in front of her. She liked the rough textured moonstone looking gem though.  
  
“Your Main House ring should be put on your left pointer finger, the others on whichever fingers you wish, other than your left ringfinger.” Nodding, she put the Peverell ring on her left pointer finger, the Potter ring on her right pointer finger and the Black ring on her right ring finger. She liked the symmetry they created across her hands.  
  
“And now for the obligations these names carry. The Peverell line has not been claimed in over five hundred years, and has a series of unfinished business that will most likely be very outdated. Shouldn’t be too much of a bother, but best to look through it so you don’t miss any blood feuds.” Griphook made sure to look her deep in the eyes so she understood, and Aster nodded, a bit chagrined that she’d have to do that. Hopefully it’d hold until she fixed her other problems first. She didn’t need random assassination attempts on her life to worry about alongside getting rid of Horcruxes.  
  
“As for the Black house, nothing is really needed here other than informing you that the previous Heir is currently in Azkaban, and still has a valid claim on the inheritance should he be released.”  
  
“About that,” Aster cut in, “I have no intention of contesting the inheritance should he be released, in fact I have information that may well prove his innocence in the matter he was jailed for.” At this information both of Griphook’s eyebrows raised themselves in the closest to surprise she’d ever seen on the goblin.  
  
“Very…well…” Griphook scribbled something on one of the papers on his desk. “That discussion will be revisited should Mr Black’s situation change. As for the Potters, now that is an interesting family. The previous Head was murdered cirka seven years ago. The will has yet to be opened, but until then the entirety of the fortune belongs to you. The current heir, one Harry James Potter, is also now yo-“  
  
“E- excuse me, did you say _Harry James Potter_?” Aster’s brain was drawing a blank on this information.  
  
Griphook barely gave the witch’s considerably paler countenance any notice, as he was retrieving paperwork long buried.  
  
“Yes, also titled the Boy-Who-Lived by you mages. Defeater of one Lord Voldemort, in case you were unaware.”  
  
“No no, I know who he is.” Oh that put a wrench in all her hastily thought plans. _This changed everything._  
  
And yet nothing really. Funny that.  
  
Breathing deeply to stave off a sudden panic attack, Aster barely paid attention to Griphook talking about magical guardianship or something of the sort. Nodding along, she looked at the parchment Griphook had slid in front of her, detailing said guardianship. Seeing Dumbledore’s looping signature somehow snapped her out of her mind, and she ruthlessly pushed all feelings behind some heavy duty occlumency barriers to deal with later.  
  
Apparently, she wasn’t in the past at all, or rather her past. The Boy-Who-Lived, huh. She was almost tempted to just sit back and see how he handled everything, if it’d be any different from her journey, or if it’d all be the same. The temptation didn’t last for more than a split second though, as boy or no she couldn’t leave any version of herself to fend for said self, if she could help. This just meant that she could now meddle to her hearts content without fearing for her own future, or own self.  
  
“Where is he now?” Aster asked suddenly, head jerking up. “The boy?” Maybe he hadn’t been put with the Dursleys. When Aster had opened the Will of her parents, there’d been a whole list of people that James and Lily had written as guardians in case of their death, none of them being Lily’s sister.  
  
“I’m afraid I can’t share that information until you take over as Guardian, Lady Peverell.” Rolling her eyes, and scowling at Dumbledores pretty signature, Aster scrawled her own over it, the ministry approved blood quill only stinging for an instance. It was strange writing Peverell instead of Potter, but still easier than she thought. A bright light flashed on the paper, and the old wizards name had disappeared, leaving only hers in its place, shimmering gold.  
  
The goblin smiled. “Excellent. His current residence is a Nr 4 Privet Drive in Surrey. That is-“  
  
“Yes yes, I know where it is. Is there anything else I should be aware of at this time?” Aster interrupted, scowling. She knew what she was going to do right after this meeting.  
  
“Nothing that can wait, Lady Peverell.” Now the goblin looked peeved, and Aster briefly regretted her abruptness. She needed to be on friendly terms with the Goblins, but she’d have to try and improve relations another day. She had a boy to save.  
  
“Excellent. I thank you for your time Master Griphook. Should there be any changes please owl me, otherwise if I may, I could owl for a future appointment to go over investments?” An olive branch, but the best she could do at the moment.  
  
“That will work.” He drawled in return.  
  
“Perfect! May your gold flow freely, and your enemies fall on their swords.” Aster stood and inclined her head as she gave her farewell, surprising the Goblin in front of her.  
  
“May their blood boil in inequity.” He answered, inclining his head as well. Having been dismissed, Aster swiftly made her way back to the main hall and out the double doors. She barely made it down the stairs and into a side alley before she spun on her heel and with a near silent pop apparated from Diagon Alley.  
  
  
  
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She arrived with an equally near silent pop in an alleyway by the elementary school she’d attended as a child. Taking a moment to observe her surroundings, she relaxed her stance as she saw she was alone, and vanished her outer robes into her bag. With another swish of her wand she transfigured her comfortable clothing into a more appropriate summer dress that reached to her calves.  
  
Taking half of her hair and twisting it up into a messy bun with her wand stuck through, Aster made her way out of the alley and towards the Dursleys home. The sun bore down on her, a breeze nearly non-existent which helped keep most of the people indoors. It looked exactly the same as she remembered it, and it brought only bitterness to her thoughts.  
  
It would be satisfying to finally confront her aunt though, even is she wouldn’t know who she was. She’d make sure to observe everything about Harry and the Dursley’s as well, in case Dumbledore attempted to pull some bullshit regarding blood wards and other foolishness. The blatant abuse of their Saviour would make sure that Wizarding kind would be firmly on her side.  
  
Seeing the house in front of her, she wasn’t sure if she was glad or not that the boy wasn’t out working in the front garden. It would’ve been good to catch him in the act, so to speak, but honestly his memories would be enough.  
  
Taking a deep breath, and mentally preparing herself for a blast from the past, Aster walked up the driveway and towards the front door. Double checking that she looked suitable in a compact mirror she plucked out of her bag, she quickly spelled on a little subtle makeup to enhance her features. As she’d inherited an equal number of features from both parents, she didn’t really look like any of them, which was good in this instance. She didn’t feel like giving Petunia a heart attack quite yet. She’d like to do that on her own merit.  
  
As ready as she was ever going to be, Aster took one last deep breath to center herself. Knocking briskly on the door, she mentally prepared to see a younger male version of herself. Would he also have glasses? Red fluffy hair like she’d had at that age?  
  
The door opened, and her questions were answered instantly. Yes, he had glasses. No, his hair was black, though seemed to be just as wild as hers. His eyes were just as green as hers though, and he seemed to be studying her equally in return, caution in his gaze.  
  
Aster smiled gently. Bittersweet sorrow and nostalgia warring in her chest as she gazed down at the too small seven-year-old. “Hello Harry. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Hope you enjoyed todays chapter!
> 
> This work is very much unbeta'd, so I apologize for any mistakes made. I do appreciate any comments and recommendations (or praise ;)) you may have. 
> 
> So with that, stay safe out there!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and Welcome to my latest story! If you're new here I hope you enjoyed this prologue.
> 
> (If you've read my other things first I'm desperately sorry I haven't updated in years but I swear I'm back now).
> 
> I'll admit updates will be sporadic, I am working as a Doctor in the middle of a pandemic, but I'll get them out somehow. 
> 
> So until next time, I hope you have a wonderful week and stay safe out there!


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